Pulling the plug on inactive users - Polkomtel's Q2 results

The directors of Polkomtel, the owner of mobile operator Plus GSM, are probably giving themselves a pat on the back, as thanks to rational cost control, stronger currency and decreasing its liabilities, the business saved zł. 50 million in the second quarter. The company's profit doubled to zł. 297 million after the first half, but the firm dropped to third position in terms of subscriber numbers. In the second quarter, Polkomtel revenues increased by almost 12% and topped zł. 1.29 billion year on year. Its EBITDA margin dropped by 2.2% to 39%. The number of Plus subscribers dropped in the second quarter by almost 50,000, to now stand at 4.79 million, but increased by 24% year on year. The drop in the number of subscribers was the effect of cutting-off inactive users. What is interesting was that Polkomtel was the only operator to take this step. Plus confirmed its plans to increase its sales by about zł. 200 million to over zł. 5 billion in 2003. (Puls Biznesu, p. 6) M.M.